Otago Golf Club general manager Evan Robb holds the St
Andrews Cross trophy that has been returned to the club
after 110 years. Photo by Gerard O'Brien.
After an absence of more than 110 years a St Andrews
Cross trophy was returned to the Otago Golf Club last week.
The club already has a St Andrews Cross, which was presented
by Charles Ritchie Howden in 1872 and has been competed for
annually ever since.
The returned cross was presented by the then-president of the
club, William Hutchinson, a member of the House of
Representatives, in 1893 and was played for over the next six
years.
However, it appears that Andrew Todd won the trophy in 1899,
but it was never engraved and was not played for again.
Todd's granddaughter, Marion Falconer, from Gore, found the
trophy in a box when her father, Rowland Todd, died in 1970
and intended to find out where it came from.
"I asked the local golf club at the time, but they didn't
know and then I forgot about it.
"I didn't realise its significance," she said.
The trophy remained hidden in a draw for the next 39 years
until Falconer rediscovered the little box again early this
year and contacted the Gore Historical Museum to find out
what it was and whom it belonged to.
After establishing it was an Otago Golf Club trophy, she sent
it back to the Otago Golf Club last week.
In an accompanying letter, Falconer explained: "My
grandfather, Andrew Todd, played golf and it may be he won
the medal but never returned it."
The Otago Golf Club has several historic trophies, including
The Olde 1871 Cup for senior champion, the St Andrews Cross
(1872), the Brunsfield Medal (1873) and the Telfer Medal
(1875).
The Telfer Medal was won by Professor John Shand, one of
three professors at the University of Otago.
His daughters donated the medal back to the club and current
member Warren Patterson became the second winner 95 years
later.
The Otago Club is unsure whether the returned cross will be
added to the large list of trophies which Balmacewen golfers
compete for annually.
Both the Falconer family and the club are hoping someone
might provide more information about the club's latest
acquisition.
Andrew Todd died in 1947 at the age of 93 and his son Rowland
kept the little box and the trophy in a drawer until he died
23 years later.
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